Historical Precedents Shape Enduring Financial, Cultural, and Linguistic Practices - Episode Hero Image

Historical Precedents Shape Enduring Financial, Cultural, and Linguistic Practices

No Such Thing As A Fish · · Listen to Original Episode →
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TL;DR

  • Financial bonds issued in the 17th century are still actively paying out, demonstrating the enduring legacy and long-term financial commitments established centuries ago.
  • The US Postal Service's initial refusal to issue an Elvis Presley stamp due to his being alive highlights a historical rule requiring deceased individuals for postage, underscoring the symbolic weight of such honors.
  • The Mall of America's claim of being kept warm by body heat, while potentially exaggerated, illustrates how large enclosed spaces can leverage ambient heat sources, though individual store heating is likely primary.
  • The Royal Shakespeare Company's assertion that 50% of the world's children study Shakespeare emphasizes its global cultural impact and enduring educational relevance, serving as a significant form of soft power.
  • The historical practice of women wearing bird of paradise feathers, which contributed to bird protection movements, shows how fashion trends can inadvertently drive conservation efforts by highlighting species' vulnerability.
  • The existence of historical patent medicines like "Miller's Worm Plums" and "Italian Bosom Friend" reveals past approaches to healthcare, often characterized by unscientific remedies and suggestive naming conventions.
  • The Slovakian and Slovenian embassies in Washington D.C. meeting monthly to exchange wrongly addressed mail points to the logistical quirks and shared administrative challenges faced by diplomatic missions.

Deep Dive

This episode of "No Such Thing As A Fish" highlights the unexpected longevity of financial instruments and the surprising origins of cultural touchstones, revealing how historical precedents and cultural associations continue to influence modern perceptions and practices. The discussion underscores that seemingly mundane aspects of life, from financial bonds to artistic legacies, are often rooted in deep historical contexts that carry surprising implications.

The concept of enduring financial obligations is illustrated by bonds issued centuries ago that are still active. A Dutch water authority bond from 1648, originally issued to fund repairs after a dike breach, continues to pay out, demonstrating the remarkable persistence of financial agreements across generations. This longevity implies that financial structures, once established, can outlast their original purpose and context, continuing to function as ongoing financial obligations. The example of a 1624 bond, which paid out approximately 13 euros annually and recently celebrated its 400th anniversary, further emphasizes this enduring nature. The implication is that financial instruments can become living historical artifacts, representing a continuous, albeit often small, financial thread connecting the present to the distant past.

The episode also explores the cultural impact and enduring legacy of figures and works, particularly James Bond and William Shakespeare. The discussion around the oldest actors to play James Bond, Roger Moore and Daniel Craig, highlights how public perception of a character is shaped by the actors who embody them and the cultural context of their portrayals. The surprising fact that George Lazenby was considered for the role due to his resemblance to a farmer, and the anecdote about his supposed casting, suggest that the selection process for iconic roles can involve unconventional criteria, influencing the trajectory of cultural phenomena. Similarly, the revelation that 50% of the world's children study Shakespeare underscores his profound and persistent global cultural influence. This widespread study implies a foundational role for Shakespeare in global arts and culture education, serving as a benchmark for literary and dramatic achievement that transcends borders and time. The list of other prominent figures associated with UK art and culture -- including The Beatles, Queen Elizabeth II, David Bowie, Adele, and Winston Churchill -- demonstrates how cultural impact is multifaceted, encompassing music, monarchy, arts, and politics, and how these associations are recognized internationally.

Finally, the podcast touches on the surprising origins of everyday concepts and the unconventional nature of historical practices. The explanation for why English borrows more words from Hawaiian than Welsh, attributed to the need for new plant names in Hawaii versus the shared flora in Wales, reveals how geographical and botanical factors influence linguistic development. This suggests that language evolution is not solely driven by cultural proximity but also by practical needs arising from environmental differences. The discussion of historical medical remedies, such as "Allen's Nipple Liniment" and "Miller's Worm Plums," illustrates the often peculiar and sometimes unscientific approaches to medicine in the past. These examples imply that historical remedies, while seemingly strange today, reflect the limited medical understanding of their time and the creative, if sometimes unsophisticated, attempts to address ailments. The fact that a woman achieved remission from bipolar disorder through a homemade fecal transplant highlights the sometimes unconventional paths to medical breakthroughs, suggesting that novel treatments can emerge from unexpected sources and underscoring the evolving understanding of the human body and its complex systems.

Action Items

  • Track 5-10 recurring subscriptions monthly to identify potential savings (ref: Rocket Money).
  • Audit 3-5 personal financial goals to align with budget recommendations (ref: Rocket Money).
  • Analyze 10-15 historical financial transactions to identify spending patterns and overspending triggers.
  • Evaluate 3-5 personal financial management strategies for effectiveness against stated goals.

Related Episodes

Key Quotes

"And in it we say the two oldest James Bonds I won't give away which ones now but I'd just like to point out I do know that Sean Connery was 53 when he was in Never Say Never Again but it's not a canon Bond film it's not one of the official ones which is why it's not included in the quiz I woke up sweating realizing that I had not made this clear in the show itself all will make sense soon let it never be said that we don't take these silly little quizzes extremely seriously."

Andrew Hunter Murray clarifies a potential misunderstanding regarding the James Bond films featured in a quiz. He explains that while Sean Connery was 53 in "Never Say Never Again," it is not considered an official Bond film, thus its exclusion from the quiz. Murray emphasizes the seriousness with which they approach even their lighthearted quizzes.

"And in the early 90s when the United States Postal Service proposed issuing an Elvis Presley stamp there was an effort to block it because someone must be dead in order to appear on a US postage stamp and Elvis they said was still alive."

James Harkin shares a peculiar historical anecdote about the US Postal Service's proposal for an Elvis Presley stamp. He highlights the rule that individuals must be deceased to be featured on a stamp, which initially prevented Elvis from being honored due to his living status at the time. Harkin finds this situation amusing and noteworthy.

"Oh so is that the humans who are shopping in the mall or is it a separate cadre of trained humans who just go around being hot do you remember in the last episode we said that you have very high body heated so your watch runs faster than most people true yeah they keep a lot of people like you in the basement and no this is just people who are shopping and actually like I saw read it on this uh and they say that really the amount of heat that's given off by the human bodies is really really negligible and while it does say on the website that the mall has no central heating uh and that it uses the body heat they're quite cagey with what they actually say and probably all the individual stores have their own heating systems."

Dan Schreiber discusses the claim that the Mall of America is kept warm by human body heat. He humorously questions whether this refers to shoppers or a dedicated group of "hot" individuals. Schreiber notes that the mall's website states it has no central heating and relies on body heat, but he expresses skepticism about the actual significance of this heat contribution, suggesting individual store heating systems likely play a larger role.

"The actual original bond is in Yale now it's passed through many hands over the centuries it's written on goatskin and it's so old and um the water board the Netherlands just needed to to raise money for something and this isn't even the oldest bond in the world that's still active there is one that was issued in 1624 it had its 400th birthday last year it is still paying out and it was because and it was again dutch water utility they had this disaster where some drifting ice broke through a dike huge problem in the Netherlands because it's all underwater uh they needed to raise money and this one pays about 13 euros still every year that you're the bondholder."

James Harkin elaborates on an exceptionally old bond issued in the Netherlands in 1648, which is still active and paying out. He mentions that the original bond is now at Yale University and is written on goatskin. Harkin also reveals that there is an even older active bond from 1624, also from a Dutch water utility, which still pays approximately 13 euros annually to its holders, highlighting the longevity of financial instruments.

"The English language has more words borrowed from Hawaiian than from Welsh really yes Wesley that one is now yours this was an Andrew Murray original yeah and it's um I can't remember any words that are borrowed from Hawaiian now aloha wiki wiki hula hula as in hula hoop yeah hula dancing yes but also I think the thing is that in Hawaii they had lots of new plants that needed names and so we took them from Hawaiian whereas when we went into Wales they had the same plants as we had which is slightly like maybe leek no you already had leeks daffs daffs yeah they still exist so you know there was no need to give Welsh names to these things."

Andrew Hunter Murray presents a fact about linguistic borrowing, stating that English has borrowed more words from Hawaiian than from Welsh. He acknowledges this was originally his fact and struggles to recall specific Hawaiian loanwords beyond "aloha" and "hula." Murray posits that the reason for this linguistic imbalance might be that Hawaii had many new plants requiring names, which were then adopted into English, unlike in Wales where similar flora already existed.

"And congratulations to you David well done David I actually have no memory of that fact whatsoever you need to go back and listen to episode nine I'm going to I'm going to do this is exciting for all of us to revisit old episodes and that was the thing that kicked off bird protection wasn't it as in people were just wearing these bird feathers willy nilly and then before that well he's birds there aren't as many birds of paradise as there used to be a lot of lovely hats being made yeah interesting yeah I think that is what happened it was the Audubon Society wasn't it I think if memory serves yeah don't write in if it wasn't there was a thing called the plumage league which is just a flat out good name for a society has a great name yeah but yeah congratulations to you David lovely stuff."

James Harkin congratulates David Ades on becoming the custodian of a fact about women wearing bird of paradise feathers in New York at the end of the 19th century. Harkin admits he has no memory of this fact himself and encourages listeners to revisit episode nine. He connects this practice to the eventual rise of bird protection movements, suggesting the widespread use of feathers for fashion contributed to the decline of certain bird populations.

Resources

External Resources

Books

  • "The Book of Lost Tales" by J.R.R. Tolkien - Mentioned in relation to a fact about the oldest James Bond.
  • "Grief Is the Thing with Feathers" by Max Porter - Mentioned as the basis for a film featuring Eric Lampeir.
  • "The Book of Lost Tales" by J.R.R. Tolkien - Mentioned in relation to a fact about the oldest James Bond.

Articles & Papers

  • "These Majestic Seabirds Never Stop Pooping" (The New York Times) - Discussed as the source of a fact about streaked shearwaters.
  • "The New York Times" - Mentioned as the source of an article about streaked shearwaters.

People

  • Sean Connery - Mentioned in relation to his age when he appeared in "Never Say Never Again."
  • Roger Moore - Mentioned as the oldest actor to play James Bond.
  • Daniel Craig - Mentioned as the second oldest actor to play James Bond.
  • George Lazenby - Mentioned in relation to his casting as James Bond.
  • Michael Palin - Mentioned as a guest on a previous episode.
  • Hans Holzer - Mentioned as the author of a book about posthumous interviews with Elvis Presley's ghost and as an inspiration for Dan Aykroyd.
  • Elvis Presley - Mentioned in relation to a book about posthumous interviews with his ghost and a proposed stamp.
  • Neil Armstrong - Mentioned in relation to the US Postal Service issuing a stamp.
  • Buzz Aldrin - Mentioned in relation to the US Postal Service issuing a stamp.
  • Michael Collins - Mentioned in relation to the US Postal Service issuing a stamp.
  • Roger Taylor - Mentioned in relation to a Queen stamp.
  • Freddie Mercury - Mentioned in relation to a Queen stamp.
  • Richard Osman - Mentioned in relation to his show "House of Games."
  • Harry Strawson - Mentioned as a presumed carrot grower.
  • Charles Darwin - Mentioned in relation to the concept of evolution.
  • Alan Turing - Mentioned in relation to a lost buried treasure and his love of codes.
  • Eric Lampeir - Mentioned as a guest and the person inside the bird costume in the film "Grief Is the Thing with Feathers."
  • Frank Hayes - Mentioned as a jockey who won a race despite being dead.
  • Emma Govan - Mentioned as the recipient of a fact about jockey Frank Hayes.
  • David Ades - Mentioned as the custodian of a fact about women wearing bird of paradise feathers.
  • Martin Hill - Mentioned as the custodian of a fact about Alan Turing's lost treasure.
  • Aaron Hung - Mentioned as the recipient of a fact about a sperm bank stopping donations from redheads.
  • Wesley Vetter - Mentioned as the custodian of a fact about the English language borrowing words from Hawaiian.
  • Andrew Hunter Murray - Mentioned as the original source of a fact about English language borrowing from Hawaiian.
  • Mr. Dan McTurne - Mentioned as the custodian of a fact about Buddhist monks running marathons.
  • Ben Callagari - Mentioned as the recipient of a fact about Slovakian and Slovenian embassies exchanging mail.
  • Alan Clark - Mentioned as the recipient of a fact about 18th-century medicines.
  • Dan Schreiber - Mentioned as the original source of a fact about Buddhist monks running marathons.
  • James Harkin - Mentioned as a host of the podcast.
  • Andy - Mentioned as a host of the podcast.
  • Dan - Mentioned as a host of the podcast.
  • Gabby Broccoli - Mentioned in relation to George Lazenby's casting as James Bond.
  • Barbara Broccoli - Mentioned in relation to George Lazenby's casting as James Bond.
  • Brian Blessed - Mentioned in relation to being considered for the role of James Bond.
  • Ronald Fines - Mentioned in relation to being considered for the role of James Bond.
  • Charles Dickens - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • George Orwell - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • John Lennon - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • The Beatles - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Jane Austen - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • David Bowie - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Edmund Hillary - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • John Cleese - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Queen - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Queen Elizabeth II - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Paul McCartney - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Twiggy - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Sting - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Anna - Mentioned in relation to a fact about a sperm bank and redheads.
  • J.K. Rowling - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • David Beckham - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Alan Rickman - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Ray Fiennes - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Simon Callow - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Benedict Cumberbatch - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures and in relation to the film "Grief Is the Thing with Feathers."
  • Winston Churchill - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Lily Allen - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Adele - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Philip Pullman - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Terry Pratchett - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Ann Miller - Mentioned in relation to a fact about 18th-century medicines.

Organizations & Institutions

  • Rocket Money - Discussed as a service for managing and canceling subscriptions.
  • The RealReal - Mentioned as a source for luxury resale items.
  • Patreon - Mentioned as a platform for joining "Club Fish."
  • YouTube - Mentioned as a platform where a filmed episode is available.
  • Apple App Store - Mentioned as a place to download the Rocket Money app.
  • Google Play Stores - Mentioned as a place to download the Rocket Money app.
  • US Postal Service - Mentioned in relation to issuing an Elvis Presley stamp.
  • British Carrots - Mentioned as a trade body for carrots.
  • Royal Shakespeare Company - Mentioned in relation to a fact about Shakespeare studies.
  • The Beatles - Mentioned in a quiz about UK art and culture figures.
  • Audubon Society - Mentioned in relation to bird protection.
  • Plumage League - Mentioned as a society related to bird protection.
  • Slovakian Embassy - Mentioned in relation to exchanging wrongly addressed mail.
  • Slovenian Embassy - Mentioned in relation to exchanging wrongly addressed mail.
  • Yale - Mentioned as the current location of an old bond.
  • Netherlands Water Authority - Mentioned in relation to issuing a bond in 1648.
  • Dutch Water Utility - Mentioned in relation to issuing a bond in 1624.

Other Resources

  • James Bond - Mentioned in relation to a quiz about the oldest actor to play the character.
  • Club Fish - Mentioned as a special members club on Patreon.
  • Drop Us a Line - Mentioned as a fortnightly show for "Club Fish" members.
  • Postage Stamp Rule - Mentioned in relation to the requirement of being deceased to appear on a US stamp.
  • Fecal Transplant Enemas - Mentioned as a treatment for bipolar disorder.
  • Microbiome - Mentioned in relation to fecal transplants.
  • Shakespeare - Mentioned in relation to a fact about global child studies and UK art and culture.
  • UK Art and Culture Figures - Mentioned in a quiz context.
  • Bird of Paradise Feathers - Mentioned as a fashion item in the late 19th century.
  • Alan Turing's Buried Treasure - Mentioned as a fact about lost valuables.
  • Buddhist Marathons - Mentioned as a method for achieving enlightenment.
  • Jogger's Nipple - Mentioned in relation to running and physical discomfort.
  • Allen's Nipple Liniment - Mentioned as an 18th-century medicine.
  • Grimston's Eye Snuff - Mentioned as an 18th-century medicine.
  • Miller's Worm Plums - Mentioned as an 18th-century medicine.
  • Italian Bosom Friend - Mentioned as an 18th-century medicine.
  • Financial Bonds - Discussed in relation to their issuance and maturity.
  • Wartime Bonds - Mentioned as a type of financial bond.
  • Streaked Shearwater - Mentioned in relation to a fact about their constant pooping.
  • Bipolar Disorder - Mentioned in relation to a case treated with fecal transplants.
  • Hawaiian Language - Mentioned in relation to English language borrowing.
  • Welsh Language - Mentioned in relation to English language borrowing.

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